First Term at Malory Towers Read Online Free PDF Page A

friendly indeed with her.
    She turned to Darrell. “Darrell, this is my friend, Betty Hill. We always sit next to each other. But Betty is in West House, worse luck.”
    Darrell smiled at Betty, who was a lively-looking girl, with wicked brown eyes and hair that fell over her forehead. She liked Betty but she was sorry to hear that Alicia had a friend already. She had rather hoped that Alicia would be her friend. She didn't particularly want either Sally or Gwendoline.
    “Sh!” said the girl at the door. “Here comes Potty!”
    There was silence at once. The girls stood up, and looked straight before them as they heard the quick, light steps of their form-mistress coming down the corridor outside. She swept into the room, nodded to the girls and said, “You can sit!”
    They sat down and waited in silence. Miss Potts took out her list of names and checked them all, tracking down a few more new girls in the other houses. Then she turned to the expectant faces before her.
    “Well!” she said,” the summer term is always the best of the lot, with swimming and tennis, picnics and rambles. But please don't make the mistake of thinking that the summer term is nothing but a picnic. It isn't. It's good hard work too. Some of you are taking exams, next term. Well, work hard this term, and you'll find the exams, easy next term. But slack this term, and I promise you I shall hear some groans and grumbles next term!”
    She paused. Then she looked hard at two or three girls. “Last term there were one or two girls who seemed to like to be bottom every week,” she said. “Leave that place to the new girls, please, and go up a few places! I never expect much of new girls their first term - but I shall expect quite a lot of you.”
    A few girls went red. Miss Potts went on talking. “I don't really think I've any brainless girls this term,” she said, “though I don't know much about the new girls, of course. If you are brainless and near the bottom, we shan't blame you, of course—but if you've got good brains and are down at the bottom, I shall have a lot to say. And you know what that means, don't you?”
    “Yes,” answered most of the girls, fervently. Miss Potts smiled, and her keen face lit up for a moment. “Well, now, after all those threats, let's get on. Here's a list of things each girl must have. If anyone lacks any of them, she must go to Katherine, head-girl of the form, and get them from her at the end of the lesson. I will give ten minutes for that.”
    Soon a lesson was in full swing. It was maths, and Miss Potts was giving a quick test paper to see what standard the new girls were up to, and whether the whole form could work together or not. Darrell found the paper quite easy, but Gwendoline groaned and grunted terribly, her golden hair all over the desk.
    “What's the matter, Gwendoline?” enquired Miss Potts, unsympathetically.
    “Well, my governess, Miss Winter, never showed me how to do sums like this,” wailed Gwendoline. “She put them down quite differently.”
    “You'll have to learn my way now,” said Miss Potts. “And Gwendoline—why haven't you done your hair this morning?”
    “I did ,” said Gwendoline, raising her big pale blue eyes. “I brushed it well. I gave it forty...”
    “All right, I don't want details,” said Miss Potts. “You can't come to class with it like that. Plait it after Break.”
    “ Plait it!” mourned poor Gwendoline, whilst the rest of the class began to giggle. “But I've never...”
    “That's enough,” said Miss Potts. “If you can't plait it and keep it tidy, perhaps your mother could have it cut short next holidays.”
    Gwendoline looked so horrified that it was all Darrell could do to keep from laughing out loud.
    “I told you so!” whispered Alicia, as soon as Miss Potts turned to write something on the blackboard. Gwendoline glared angrily at her and made a face. As if Mother would dream of cutting off her beautiful fine sheet of hair. And